[As Terms of Endearment proves, Larry McMurtry] is possessed of gifts that seem to be growing ever more rare among American novelists, chief among these being a true and literate wit. There are others: a feeling for place, an abundance of energy, and an absolute commitment to the depths and lines of character. This is not to say that his saga of a Houston family is without flaws, for there are a number here, among the more serious of which is Mr. McMurtry's tendency to nudge the reader overmuch and to tell him what to feel. That aside, one is quickly absorbed in the world of his novel, a small but intense universe made vivid by the character of Aurora…. [Aurora] is a testament not alone to Mr. McMurtry's talent for characterization but also to the delights of those two classical virtues of the...